Closing for garments



. Aug. 7, 1945.

J. LANE CLOSING FOR GARMENTS Filed June 4, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 'INVENTORJ' JOSEPH LANE Aug. 7, 1945. J. LANE CLOSING FOR GARMENTS Filed June 4, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 7, 1945 k oLosme FOB Joseph Lane, New Yor kg,

.Aipnaa nnne 4, 1942', Stand, 45, 79.

1 Claim. (Cl, a -74 This invention relates to garments. It is particularlydirected to a dress having a side opening provided with fasteners and extending. from above the waistline to. below the waistline, to permit the dress to be doffed over the shoulders.

Heretofore, such side openings in: dresseswere fastened by slider actuated fasteners or hooks and eyes,:but due to the present national emergency, metal cannot be obtained to make; either slider actuated fasteners or hooks. andeyes. Itis therefore an object of the present invention to provide a, dress of the character described, having animdress;

proved side opening construction adapted to be closed by buttons which are concealed when the side openingis buttoned up. l

A further object of the present invention is to provide a dress of the character described, formed with a side opening and having a longitudinal extension, coextensive with said opening, and on one side of said opening underlapping the edge portion at the other side of said opening and carrying buttons, and a longitudinal flap on the insid of said edge portion at said other side of said opening and formed with buttonholes to receive said buttons.

, A still further object of this invention is to provide a dress of the character described, in which said extension and said portion of the dress overlying the flap are provided with reinforcing strips, and in which said flap is of double thickness.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dress having strong, neat and durable highly improved side opening construction and fasteners therefor, which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to assembly and manipulate, and yet practical and eflicient to a high degree.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the following claim.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible illustrative embodiments of this invention,

:and

the side; opening partially unbuttoned and opened p;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, cross-sectional View taken on line 4-4 ofFig. l; 1

, Fig.5 is aplan assembly view of the pieces of material which form the front portion of the Fig. 6-15 a plan assembly view of the pieces of material which form the rear portion of the dress;

Fig.7 is a partial, inside, perspective view of the improved side opening construction. I Referring now in detail to the drawings, l0 designatesa dress embodying the invention. The same comprises a front portion H and. a rear portion 12, Thefront portion i I may comprise a waist portion 13 anda skirt portion l4 stitched thereto at the waistline by seam I5. The rear portion i2 may comprise an upper waist portion 11 and a lower skirt portion 18 seamed together at the waistline by a line of stitching IS.

The members l3 and H are seamed together from-the armholes downwardly to a point above the waistline, as by line of stitching 22. The skirt portions I4 and 18 are seamed together from a point below the waistline downwardly by a line of stitching 23. A longitudinal side opening 25 is thus formed to permit the dress to be pulled over the head of the wearer.

The dress is provided with means, embodying the invention to detachably close said opening, without necessitating slider actuated fasteners, hooks and eyes or any other metal parts. To this end, dress portions I! and 18 are formed with adjacent longitudinal extensions Ila and [8a extending beyond the longitudinal edges thereof and together forming a longitudinal extension flap 29, on one side of the opening 25, coextensive with said opening and underlying the adjacent edge of the front portion l I of the dress on theother side of said opening.

side of the dress, formed with a side opening construction embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an inside View of the portion of the dress shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1, but showin Superimposed over the inner side of the extension flap, 29 is a longitudinal reinforcing strip of cloth 30 of somewhat greater width than said flap. The outer edge 29a of the flap 2!) and outer edge 30a of strip 30 may be inwardly folded and seamed together by seams 3| and 32. The inside longitudinal edge 30b of the strip 30 may also be folded back and seamed to the body of said strip by a longitudinal seam 33. Said strip 30 may also be stitched to the extension flap 29, adjacent the upper and lower ends thereof bytransverse or horizontal lines of stitching 35.

A row of buttons 31 are stitched to the superimposed flap 29 and strip 30. It will be noted that the buttons 31 underlie the adjacent edge portion of the front dress portion II and are concealed thereby.

Superimposed over the inside of the front of the dress II, adjacent the opening 25, and coextensive therewith, is a reinforcing strip 40 of cloth. The outer edge 40a of the reinforcing strip 40 is turned inwardly as is also the outer edge Ila of the front portion I I of the dress, said turned in edges being stitched together by a line of stitching 4|, aligned with seams 22, 23.

The extension flap 29 partially underlaps reinforcing strip 40. Superimposed over the inner side of strip 40, is a flap 42 formed of a longitudinally folded piece of cloth, having a fold line 45 adjacent edges 40a, Ila, a front fold portion 46 and a rear fold portion 41, Flap 42 is stitched to reinforcing strip 40 by lines of stitching 43, 44, parallel to and spaced from said outer edges 40a, Ila. Said flap 42 is stitched together with strip 40 to the front portion ll of the dress, by a longitudinal line of stitching 4'! adjacent lines of stitching 43, 44.

Said flap 42 and strip 40 are also stitched to the front of the dress by said horizontal, transverse lines of stitching 35, adjacent the upper and lower ends of the opening 25. The flap 42 is formed with buttonholes 50 to receive the buttons 31. The flap 42 formed with the buttonholes is thus of double thickness of cloth. The portion of the dress which carries the buttons is of double thickness of cloth, and the portion of the dress which overlies the buttons is also of double thickness of cloth, thus forming a strong and durable construction.

It will be noted that the buttons 31 are concealed when the dress is worn and the buttons '6 may be readily unbuttoned when it is desired to don or doff the dress.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A dress having a longitudinal side opening extending from above the waistline to below the waistline, said dress being formed with a longitudinal extension coextensive with said opening and on one side of said opening underlying the material at the other side of said opening, a longitudinal reinforcing strip stitched to said extension and being coextensive therewith, buttons sewed to the extension and reenforcing strip a second reinforcing strip coextensive with said opening stitched to the inner side of the material of said dress at the other side of the opening and overlying said extension, and a flap comprising a folded over piece of material stitched to the inner side of the last mentioned reinforcing strip, said flap having been provided with button holes to receive said buttons on said longitudinal reinforcing strip, and the upper and lower ends of said reinforcing strips and said flap being stitched to the dress by horizontal transverse seams located at the upper and lower ends of said opening.

JOSEPH LANE. 

